News articles, special reports, and legal documents related to international terrorist organizations (ITOs) originating in and/or operating in Africa. We currently focus on recent, post-9/11, terrorist attacks in countries such as Algeria, Mali, Nigeria, and Somalia. We cover terrorist groups such as Al-Shabaab and the Armed Islamic Group (GIA). Please browse the other sections to identify terrorist groups operating across regions.

SOMALIA: MOGADISHU K5 JUNCTION TRUCK BOMB ATTACK - Mogadishu, Somalia, October 14, 2017: A massive truck bomb went off in Mogadishu's K5 Junction, which is lined with hotels and government offices (including the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), killing over 300 and injurimng over 400 people.

Somalia Truck Bombing Kills Over 300. The Somali government said the number of dead is expected to rise in what has become one of the world’s worst attacks in years. Voice of America, October 16, 2017: TEXT | PICTURES | AUDIO

Security Forces in Mali Free All Hostages From Luxury Hotel. Malian security forces have freed hostages after Islamist militants took at least 100 people hostage at a luxury hotel in the capital Bamako. At least 27 people have been killed. AllAfrica, November 20, 2015: TEXT | PICTURE

NIGERIA:

Nigeria World Cup viewers hit by deadly bomb blast. At least 27 people are said to have been seriously injured after a suicide bomber in a tricycle taxi detonated explosives as people watched Brazil's match against Mexico on TV; no group has claimed responsibility for this attack. BBC News, June 18, 2014: TEXT | PICTURES

DJIBOUTI: LA CHAUMIERE RESTAURANT SUICIDE ATTACK - May 24, 2014: A couple detonated suicide vests, killing one civilian and injuring several Western soldier. Djibouti is a highly strategical country hosting American and French military bases.

Al Shabaab claims responsibility for Djibouti restaurant suicide attack. The suicide attack on May 24, 2014 on La Chaumière, a restaurant in Djibouti’s capital popular with tourists and Western military personnel, killed a Turkish national and wounded several Western soldiers. Reuters, May 27, 2014: TEXT

Belated 'intelligence' and travel warning:

Al-Shabaab planning attacks in Djibouti, says British Foreign Office. "There are credible reports that al-Shabaab plan, and have the capability, to attack targets in Djibouti, including western interests," the Foreign Office said, noting that "there is a high threat from terrorism" in the port city. By Agence France-Presse, The Guardian.com, June 12, 2014: TEXT | PICTURE | As copied and pasted from Gov.uk June 12, 2014 travel warning: TEXT

Kenya arrests over Mpeketoni coast attacks. President Uhuru Kenyatta has denied al-Shabab's claim to be behind the raids and has blamed local political groups.BBC News, June 18, 2014: MULTIMEDIA

INTERNATIONAL TERRORIST ORGANIZATIONS, RECENT ACTIVITY

NAME

(IN)ACTIVE

COUNTRY/REGION

A

Al-Shabaab

ACTIVE

SOMALIA

Al-Shabaab militants try food to win hearts and minds in drought. Half the population of Somalia live under the Islamist militant group Al-Shabaab, who are aiming to prove they too can provide for the people under their control.By Jamal Osman, Channel 4 News (UK), May 2, 2017: TEXT | VIDEO

Islamists kill 50 in Kenya, some during World Cup screening. al Shabaab commandos killed at least 50 people in a Kenyan coastal town, executing men in front of their families and killing others who had gathered to watch World Cup soccer on television. By Drazen Jorgic, Reuters, June 16, 2014: TEXT | VIDEO

Kenya arrests over Mpeketoni coast attacks. President Uhuru Kenyatta has denied al-Shabab's claim to be behind the raids and has blamed local political groups.BBC News, June 18, 2014: MULTIMEDIA

Al Shabaab claims responsibility for Djibouti restaurant suicide attack. The suicide attack on May 24, 2014 on La Chaumière, a restaurant in Djibouti’s capital popular with tourists and Western military personnel, killed a Turkish national and wounded several Western soldiers. Reuters, May 27, 2014: TEXT

Belated 'intelligence' and travel warnings:

Al-Shabaab planning attacks in Djibouti, says British Foreign Office. "There are credible reports that al-Shabaab plan, and have the capability, to attack targets in Djibouti, including western interests," the Foreign Office said, noting that "there is a high threat from terrorism" in the port city. By Agence France-Presse, The Guardian.com, June 12, 2014: TEXT | PICTURE | | As copied and pasted from Gov.uk June 12, 2014 travel warning: TEXT

Al Shabaab attacks Somali parliament, at least 10 dead.
The attack started with a car bomb at a gate to the heavily fortified parliament compound, followed by a suicide bombing and then a gun battle that continued for hours.
Reuters Africa, May 24, 2014: TEXT

Somali suicide bombing kills AU soldiers in Beledweyne.
At least 16 people have been killed and more than 30 injured after a suicide bomber blew himself up in a crowded restaurant in Beledweyne. BBC News, October 19, 2013: TEXT | MAP

Target in U.S. Raid on Somalia Is Called Top Al-Shabab Planner of Attacks Abroad. Mr. Ikrimah, a Kenyan of Somali origin and one of the Al-Shabab top planners, is also an associate of two Al Qaeda operatives who were involved in the 1998 bombing of the American Embassy in Nairobi and in the 2002 attacks on a hotel and an airline in Mombasa. By Nicholas Kulish, Eric Schmitt and Mark Mazzetti, New York Times, October 6, 2013: TEXT

ATTACK ON WESTGATE SHOPPING CENTRE, NAIROBI, KENYA - SEPTEMBER 21, 2013. After al-Shabab militants stormed the shooping centre, at least 61 civilians and six members of the security forces died during the four-day siege, along with an unknown number of attackers.

Nairobi attack: What we know. At least 67 people are known to have died after suspected al-Shabab militants stormed the Westgate shopping centre in the Kenyan capital Nairobi. Police had estimated earlier that there were between 10 to 15 attackers in the building. Five were killed in the operation,
Interior Minister Joseph Ole Lenku said. BBC News, September 21-25, 2013: MULTIMEDIA

Al Shabab's alleged Twitter account taunts Kenyan officials following mall rampage.
HSM Press Office began sending a series of tweets Tuesday claiming to be Al Shabab, the terror group which says it's responsible for the massacre at a Kenyan mall. By Erik Ortiz, New York Daily News, September 24, 2013: TEXT | PICTURES

Riots in Kenya after 'al-Shabaab backer'
Aboud Rogo
shot dead. Riots erupted in Kenya's main coast city on Monday after a radical Islamic preacher
Aboud Rogo accused of arranging funding for Somalia's al-Shabaab militia was shot dead in his car. By Mike Pflanz, The Telegraph, August, 27, 2012: TEXT

Somali and African Union Forces Capture Marko After Al Shabaab Retreats. The city of Marko which is located approximately 80 kms south of Mogadishu had been under Al Shabaab control for all of former President Sharif's tenure. AllAfrica, August, 27, 2012: TEXT

2011 U.S. Terrorism Report: Somalia.
Al-Shabaab's withdrawal from conventional fighting in and near Mogadishu resulted in a change of al-Shabaab tactics to asymmetrical attacks against AMISOM and the TFG.
AllAfrica, August, 27, 2012: TEXT

Factbox: Somalia's al Shabaab rebels.
Al Shabaab's militia was part of Somalia's Islamic Courts Union movement that pushed U.S.-backed warlords out of the capital Mogadishu in June 2006 and ruled for six months before Somali and Ethiopian forces ousted the movement.
AlertNet, October 27, 2011: TEXT

Armed Islamic Group (GIA)

ACTIVE

ALGERIA / EUROPE

French President Nicolas Sarkozy wants 'truth' on 1996 massacre of French monks.
The move came a day after potentially explosive allegations that the Algerian army killed the monks by mistake. AFP / Expatica, July 8. 2009: TEXT

Islamist leader Abdelhak Layada (aka Abu Adlane) freed in Algeria.
Abdelhak Layada, also known as Abu Adlane,
set up the Armed Islamic Group (GIA) in 1992 after the army cancelled polls which Islamists were set to win.
BBC News, March 13, 2006: TEXT

B

Boko Haram

ACTIVE

NIGERIA

Kano mosque attack kills dozens. Dozens have been killed in a gun and bomb attack during prayers at one of the biggest mosques in the northern Nigerian city of Kano. BBC News, November 28, 2014: MULTIMEDIA

Nigeria explosion 'kills dozens' in Adamawa state. Some reports said the blast was caused by a roadside bomb and occurred near the town of Mubi, close to the Cameroonian border. BBC News, November 27, 2014: TEXT | MAP

200 Kidnapped Nigeria girls: British military plane deployed.
The aircraft set off from RAF Waddington in Lincolnshire on Sunday morning and headed to Ghana to join an international operation.
BBC News, May 18, 2014: VIDEO

Nigerian military says location of girls known, but wary of using force. "The good news for the parents of the girls is that we know where they are, but we cannot tell you," Chief of Defence Staff Air Marshal Alex Badeh was quoted as saying. "By Tim Cocks, Robin Pomeroy (ed) (Reuters), The Chicago Tribune, May 26, 2014: TEXT

Girl Power. Chad, Niger, and Cameroon are being drawn into the crisis, owing to growing suspicion that some of the girls are being held on their territory -a recently signed memorandum of understanding offers Nigeria security assistance from the United States, the United Kingdom, France, and other powers. Op ed by Gordon Brown, former British Prime Minister, is United Nations Special Envoy for Global Education. Project Syndicate, June 9, 2014: TEXT

Gunmen kill students as they sleep in Nigerian college. The gunmen, thought to be members of rebel sect Boko Haram, stormed a college in northeastern Nigeria and shot dead around 40 male students, some of them while they slept early on Sunday, witnesses said. By Joe Hemba, Reuters, September 29, 2013: TEXT

Boko Haram terrorists were mistaken by students for soldiers. "They all wore army uniform and were heavily armed. One of them stood by the door, shooting at students who made for the door to escape." By Harriet Alexander and Aminu Abubakar, The Telegraph, September 30, 2013: TEXT | PICTURE

Shekau Appears in New Video, Says 'I Am Alive.'Abubakar Shekau, the leader of the Jama'atu Ahlis Sunnah Lidda'awati Wal Jihad (also known as Boko Haram), today said the Nigerian Military should bury itself in shame because he is alive. By Hamza Idris, AllAfrica, September 25, 2013: TEXT